Once in a century
by PERCY JACKSON ROCKS 111
Summary: Camp Half-Blood hosts a grand competition which includes all demigods above 15. There is only one goal in everybody's mind. To win. Percy and Annabeth break up for some reason. Will they make it up again? Who will win? Rated T because i am crazy.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: All the characters and places mentioned in this story from the Percy Jackson series belong to the amazing author Rick Riordan

* * *

**Chapter 1: The announcement**

"What`s the matter Chiron?" Jason asked as he, Piper and Leo entered the Ping- Pong room at the Big House.

"You will know soon enough Jason. Just wait for the other counselors to arrive," Chiron replied in his forever serious tone.

"Maybe another Great Prophecy," Leo guessed, trying hard not to laugh. It was a week since Gaia was defeated and all the Greek demigods who had been part of the prophecy were in a cheerful mood.

"If it is, then I am not volunteering," Piper said, "I have had enough with prophecies."

"I assure you that we are not going to talk about prophecies. In fact, you are going to be very excited by what you hear," Chiron said.

Slowly, all the counselors were arriving at the Big House. Percy and Annabeth arrived the last. They stumbled through the door, laughing and tickling each other playfully.

"Um, guys...?" Piper asked with a quizzical look on her face.

They suddenly seemed to realize that everybody was watching them and took their seats with a little embarrassment.

"So," Chiron said, "You all are called here to inform you about the arrival of some guests at Camp Half- Blood. Our camp is hosting an event which is going to need all the demigods available at the moment. It is not compulsory, but I am sure that all those who hear about this event will want to participate. All demigods of age 15 and above can participate so the 15+ demigods from Camp Jupiter are going to come here plus some… other demigods."Chiron screwed his face while saying the last few words.

"Other demigods? But all 15+ demigods must be in either Camp Half-Blood or Camp Jupiter. There can`t be such older demigods anywhere else," Percy said.

"Unfortunately, there are a few. They travel in a group. As our satyrs, these demigods too travel to various schools and recruit young demigods. But they do not let them reach any camp. They make them join their own clan and train them. They do not believe that our camp can protect them. We are trying to make peace with them since the last few years but they don`t listen. They also didn`t come to help us during the Titan war and the war with Gaia. I myself am not much fond of them but it can`t be helped. The gods say that they too should be given a chance at this event so, much to my displeasure, we are going to have them stay at our camp."

"But surely they are not going to behave very nicely to us, because we are members of Camp Half-Blood," Piper pointed out.

"That, I agree with. But I am sure, how much they manipulate you; you all will not lose your control and start fighting with them. Just concentrate on the competition. That is more important," Chiron replied.

"But what _are _we hosting? The Olympics?" Leo asked.

"Certainly not the Olympics. It is a competition which the gods started for their entertainment but stopped it when the demigods started dying due to the dangerous tasks they had to face. It was conducted every once in a century. After many millennia, the gods are restarting this competition once again after reducing the level of violence in it."

"So this time none of us is going to die?" Clarisse asked with a little disappointment.

"Not at all. Some of the Olympians themselves are going to come here to supervise the competition."

"The Olympians themselves!" Butch asked with awe, momentarily stopping to put pencils in the 'as always' asleep Clovis`s nose.

"Yes. Inform the other campers about what we just talked and please tell them that they all can participate fearlessly and do their best. The meeting is adjourned." Chiron said loudly.

As all the demigods began to disperse, Annabeth came up to Chiron and asked, "What exactly is this competition Chiron? I have never read anything about this before."

"You never could have. The gods were very secretive about it. You will know soon enough what it is, and I am sure you would want to dearly win it," Chiron said with a smile.

* * *

Mike Brookes was not feeling the love. He had just now received a letter from that Camp Half-Blood director, Chiron, calling him and his team of demigods to their camp for some sort of competition organized by the gods. The letter further said that some of the gods are going to be there personally for supervision. His clan was instantly excited. Their idea was to stamp out all the camp demigods in front of the gods to prove their worth. Mike was in no mood to step foot in that cursed camp but he had to admit that his friends were right. They had to show that Camp Half-Blood was nothing compared to their team. Mike had increased his numbers over the years so their team size had become considerable. He had trained his demigods to survive in all sorts of difficult situations by practically living there. He had trained them in all sorts of activities essential for a demigod. He had excellent swordfighters to excellent archers. His team would easily snuff out their rivals.

Many years ago, when Mike was only 11, a satyr from Camp Half-Blood had come to receive him from his school. He had been informed by that satyr that he was a demigod and that camp would protect him. His family also agreed that that was the safest place or Mike to go. He was old enough to face monsters on his own. Mike had waited outside the house for the satyr to return with stuff when he spotted the creature approaching. Mike was scared out his wits. It had occurred to him after many years of searching that it had been a Minotaur who had attacked his house. He ran and hid behind a tree. It was a chilly night and the entire neighborhood was asleep. Nobody heard the screams from the house. The Minotaur couldn`t find him inside and destroyed the entire house along with his whole family and that satyr. He ran away as fast as he could and half the night was over before he could lose the Minotaur. He found a safe place behind a garbage can in an alley and sat there crying all night. He cursed himself for being a demigod, cursed the gods and mostly cursed Camp Half-Blood. If the satyr hadn`t come for him he wouldn`t have left school and his house wouldn`t have been under danger. He promised himself that he would never go to camp. He would train outside in the open on his own and avenge all the monsters.

He had found stray demigods like him along the way and they faced all the dangers together. It was the only family Mike had ever had and he wasn`t going to lose it.

He looked around his recent hideout. They were just now camping in the woods on the outskirts of a school where they had picked up their recent recruit. They constantly shifted camp from one place to another. This time, much to Mike`s surprise, they were camped very close to Long Island, the satyr had said that Camp Half-Blood was located. It was as if the gods knew they were close and accordingly planned the competition.

Flash Ryder, Mike`s very first demigod friend was sitting outside his tent and sharpening his sword. He had got it from his father Ares as a gift. His mom had given it to him when he was leaving home. Flash was the kind of guy who could easily impress girls with his looks. He had a handsome face, a military haircut and muscular arms. He was excellent with any weapon you gave him and also exceeded at all mortal sports.

Mia Fortesque was checking her face in the mirror. She was the daughter of Aphrodite so most of the time she was doing that. She had brown hair and a heavily make-up applied face. He had tried in vain to teach her some combat but she was the most useless of their team. Mike thought she had a big crush on him but he wasn`t that 'dating' sort of boy. She should try Flash instead. He is always looking for some way to impress girls.

Kristen Rivers was trying to shoot the birds on the nearby trees with her bow and arrow. She was the daughter of Apollo and the sharpest shooter we had. Most of the times Kristen would go and hunt our food for us. She didn`t care much about her beauty but the amazing thing was that most of the boys in their camp were mad on her and not Mia. She had curly black hair and brown eyes with which she could give someone a very unnerving look.

Beside her were the Hoodies, her forever fans. They were twin sons of Hephaestus, Ricky Hoods and Mickey Hoods. Why their mother named them like that, Mike had no idea. Their surname suited them very well as both always kept the hoods of their jackets over their heads only showing their faces. They both had coal black eyes and sandy colored hair which could only be seen when they took their hoods off. They were always seen making jokes or talking about some machine they had invented. They were exceptionally good with repairing anybody`s weapon so they couldn`t be called useless. They were presently trying to make a metal helicopter take a rose to Kristen.

They were the only demigods including Mike who were above 15. All the others were recently recruited and Mike didn`t know their names. They were all kids. They couldn`t do much at Camp Half-Blood except cheer their team members.

" Okay everybody," he called. They all looked at him.

"As you all know by this letter, we all have been called at Camp Half-Blood for this competition. It is our promise that that we would never go to any camp for training or for any other purpose but I don`t want to disappoint you as you all seem to be so excited about this."

"So are we going?" Flash asked.

"I want to know each of your opinions before we take any decision."

"What do _you_ think Mike?" Kristen asked.

"I think that it is not a bad idea to go. We always wanted to show that we are superior to any camp. The chance has come. We could take a chance at this competition and beat those filthy camp people to it. The gods are also going to be there. We could show our worth in front of them. After it all is over we will leave camp instantly, no more staying in our enemy territory. What do you all think about my idea?"

"I am fine with any idea _you_ put forth Mike," Mia said and smiled sweetly at him.

"We agree!" the Hoodies said together.

"I would love to beat those camp people to pulp," Flash mused.

"What will we do then?" One of the small kids asked him. They had momentarily stopped reading their Greek mythology books which the Hoodies had made them read.

Mike smiled at them. "You could cheer for us. We want at least some people in the audience to be on our side. You could also spy for us and tell us all the camp secrets. They are bound to behave a little lenient with you."

"Deal," the children said happily.

"So all in agreement?" Mike asked.

"Yes," they said in one voice.

"Okay, so tomorrow we leave for Camp Half-Blood. Chiron has given some directions as to the camp`s location so we should have no problem finding it. Take with you all the weapons we have. I guess we will need them for the competition. Also take our camping material with us. We will not be sleeping with those wretched people. For the below 15 people, good luck with the spying and supporting. For the 15+ people, do your best at the competition and be sure to blow all the Camp Half-Blood people to dust."

* * *

The gods were all excited about the coming event.

Zeus, Poseidon, Athena, Ares, Hephaestus, Dionysus, Apollo, Hermes and Aphrodite were going to be present at Camp Half-Blood as they were going to set the various tasks for the demigods. They were discussing in the throne room about it.

"My children will do the best at the competition as they have knowledge as well as power to fight." Athena announced proudly.

"Minotaur poop," Ares said, "My children will show their war power and knock of all the top prizes."

"I doubt they will get past the first task itself," Apollo muttered to himself.

"_WHAT?_"

"Um, nothing."

"I don`t hope much from my children," Hermes grumbled, "They will not get any stealing or navigating tasks, which is their specialty."

"My children will bring out unexpected results," Hephaestus said, "Some of them are quite talented."

"I hope my children make it to the third task," Aphrodite spoke in her silky and soft voice, "They will love it."

"As if the first two tasks are easy for them," Dionysus whispered to Apollo who tried hard not to laugh.

"I think all the demigods will do their best to win the competition. The prize is to intimidating. But no offence, I think only the Big Three children are going to make it to the prize. All of them are much too talented," Poseidon confirmed.

Just then, Zeus spoke for the first time.

"Let us see later whose siblings do what, but just now we have a more pressing issue to discuss. Are we right in letting those outsiders in the competition?"

"We have talked about this, father. The decision cannot be changed now. They are also demigods. This competition is conducted once in a century, that means only once in a mortal`s life. They won`t get this golden opportunity again. It would be very unfair if they missed this competition," Athena said firmly.

"Yes, all our children should be given a chance," Hephaestus rumbled.

"Okay, then if you want them to be in the competition, it is your responsibility that they do not start fighting with the Camp Half-Blood demigods. I will not accept a war when the competition is going on."

"We will take care of that. Nobody will be arguing during the competition. It is so many years after that we are going to witness this. Nobody will spoil our fun," Apollo answered.

"Well then, inform Chiron that we are going to arrive at Camp Half-Blood tomorrow itself. We should be given a grand welcome and our all requirements are to be ready." Zeus vanished from the throne room leaving behind him an electric smell. Slowly and slowly all gods started disappearing from the throne room. Only Aphrodite and Athena were left behind.

"I am going to first thing meet Percy and Annabeth when I get to Camp Half-Blood. I have been giving them too many warnings about their relationship and my not liking it but they won`t listen to a thing I say," Athena said.

"Don`t worry, Athena. I have a very nice twist planted for them and they are going to get separated very soon. But I think they won`t get permanently separated. Those two are mad for each other," Aphrodite replied.

"We will see."

"We sure will."

* * *

**AN:- HOPE YOU LIKED THIS CHAPTER. PLEASE REVIEW. THIS IS MY FIRST STORY SO PLEASE DON`T GIVE ME ANY FLAMES. YOU ARE GOING TO LOVE THE COMPETITION VERY MUCH.**


	2. Chapter 2: Getting ready

**Disclaimer: All characters and places mentioned in this story from the Percy Jackson series belong to the amazing author Rick Riordan.**

* * *

**Chapter 2: Getting ready**

Percy P.O.V.

Percy entered Cabin Three to break the news Chiron had given them. When he entered, he saw Alex and Tyson sprawled on their bunks, talking about their favorite game baseball.

"We are missing all the fun man, Chiron doesn`t even tell us the baseball scores when I ask him," Alex said regretfully.

"Yeah, it all has become very bore this summer," Tyson agreed.

"I think this summer is going to be the best for us," Percy announced and crashed on his bunk. The other two looked at him with confusion.

Alex Morgan was his half- brother, a demigod son of Poseidon. He was very tall, at least six feet, with dark hair and green eyes like Percy. He had a very handsome face, ripped muscles and was good at any physical thing. Surprisingly, he was also very good with knowledge, which was generally not a characteristic of a Poseidon kid. Sometimes he could figure out things quicker than a child of Athena. (Not Annabeth, she had her own standard). He was seventeen presently, and Percy got along well with him even though he sometimes acted like a jerk.

"You guys are gonna freak out when you hear this." Percy told Alex and Tyson what Chiron had told them about the competition being held at their camp, the outsiders who were going to come and the arrivals of Camp Jupiter and the gods.

"Wow, so all 15+ demigods can take part, eh?" Alex said with sudden interest. This is going to be so much fun, man."

"But they won`t let me participate," Tyson said with a groan, "I will miss all the fun!"

"It`s okay, big guy. You don`t have to worry about that. We will hook up you all the front seats during the competition," Alex said, grinning at him, "You can maybe make some extra weapons for us and hang a banner over the audience saying, 'PERCY AND ALEX ROCK!' That will keep our spirits up."

Tyson wasn`t convinced much but he nodded crossly, realizing that he didn`t have much choices.

"But that is not our main problem," Percy continued, "The outside demigods who are arriving don`t look too nice to me. From the way Chiron described them, they look like guys who would love to destroy our camp. And if they are as bad as Chiron said, then they are going to give us a hard time during the competition. They will try to make us as miserable as possible, but we are supposed to reason with them and try to maintain peace."

"Well, I also don`t agree about that 'reason with them' stuff, but really Percy, how much chance do they have at this? The Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter demigods are going to outnumber them easily, and we are not that weak to get brutalized at our own home. They will have to constantly keep in their limits, or we will ground them to death!"

"Um, okay, but still I am thinking that they will not be easy to defeat. And if one of them is a child of Poseidon-''

"He or she is certainly not going to sleep with us!"

"Yeah but… okay, leave it. We shall figure out about them later. Let`s go out and see how other cabins are taking the news."

* * *

Everybody was clearly excited about this. The counselors hadn`t taken much time to spread the news and now all the camp members knew. The elder demigods were especially excited because they were the ones who were going to participate. The satyrs and nymphs also got the news, And they were seen chattering near the woods about which Olympian`s autograph would be the most popular.

When Grover got the news, he was so excited that he began to play an utterly horrible song on his pipes and then it dawned on him that he would only be a spectator.

"This is not fair man," he complained, "It is not that we satyrs always play useless. And at such a big event, we _should _have been taken into consideration. My natural powers have gotten stronger these days, and I could have used them."

Percy wanted to tell Grover that the other players would be much too powerful to be harmed by natural powers, but he didn`t depress his friend more than he already was.

Percy and Alex went up to the Big House and saw the huge arrangements that Chiron was making for the god`s arrival. There was a huge carpet that was being laid from the top of Half-Blood Hill to the stage that was being set up beside the Big House. There was going to be a big podium from where the god`s were going to address the demigods. Nymphs, satyrs and Cyclopes (which Tyson had generously called from the bottom of the ocean) were running about doing the construction work. Some nymphs were taking huge crates of Hermes Express inside the Big House which probably stored the ambrosia and nectar stashes of the gods. The gods were probably living in the Big House because there was simply no other place free of demigods. (They couldn`t sleep in their cabins, that would be too much embarrassing for them).

They went up to Chiron and asked if there was any work for them to do.

"You and the others could clean up all the places inside camp," he replied, "They should not be upset with our tidiness. Also keep all the cabins clean and beautiful. They should be impressed by how well you maintain your camp."

"He has given us the most boring work we could ask for," Alex muttered as they walked back to find their friends.

The group met up and decided the various places they could tidy up as a presentation for the gods. They assumed that the gods would eat with them in the dining pavilion so Percy and Annabeth decided to clean it up. Jason and Piper decided to take the and Alex and Leo decided to take Bunker 9 in case the gods had any wish to see that place (especially Hephaestus).

As Percy and Annabeth approached the dining pavilion, they saw that there wasn`t much left to do. The nymphs were roaming all over the place,putting up posters of symbols and weapons of the gods. We asked a nymph whether we could give a helping hand. She told us that the decorated tables and chairs of the gods were left to be arranged. She also told us that there was to be a special table in the middle of the pavilion. (So that`s why they moved all the rest of the tables to the side. Dunno why.)

As they started arranging the tables and chairs at the head of the pavilion, Percy asked Annabeth, "What do you think about all this?"

She looked at him before answering, "I think that this is a totally new game that the gods are playing on us. I looked up all the info on the web about anything like this on my laptop but even the Google is unknown about anything like this. The closest results I got were about the Olympics, but I doubt our camp has that much place. And the gods must be watching the mortal Olympic games every four years so that will not interest them much. I think this competition was banned because the god`s entertainment led to many demigod deaths. They must have battled for their lives, not just the prize and friends must have ended up killing each other."

"I get it now. So the gods, as always, couldn`t keep control on their promises. They are going to start it again saying that this one will not be as dangerous as the others. After Gaia was defeated, the gods must have wanted some relief entertainment or something, so they are tempting us into this thing."

"Exactly. I wonder what prize they have got in store for the winner. Chiron said it was something that we would be dying to get."

"It can`t be bad to try. Most of the guys out there are thinking of winning and showing off in front of their godly parent, so I don`t want to be left out."

"If you are participating, then I am coming too," she said, smiling at him, "There is nothing greater than beating Percy Jackson at anything."

"So you plan to beat me?"

"You must be pretty high on the list, maybe even at the top, so overtaking you will not be a bad target."

I stepped closer to her. "Even if we do not win, we must make sure that we stay a good lot ahead of those outside guys."

"I think it will be on every camp member`s target list."

He stepped forward and pulled Annabeth into his arms. She didn`t protest but looked questioningly at him. She was really beautiful now. Her blonde hair spread over her shoulders. She stared at him with those startling grey eyes. She always appeared intelligent, no matter where she was. All the boys at camp who were seventeen seemed to like her, but none of them wanted to mess with Percy.

"I just want to have a word with you."

"About what?"

"The demigods who are coming here. You know, your attraction quotient has gone very high these days. All the guys who see you seem to like you. Even the small ones. So if any of those people try to, you know, step in, please tell them that you are occupied, will you? I don`t want anybody to come in between our relationship, even Athena. She was trying to break us up very hard last time. Now she will get to stay here and keep direct watch on us. She might even tell you to stop dating me. You won`t listen to her, will you?"

To his surprise, she pulled him close and gave him a deep kiss. The nymphs were all around, so it didn`t linger for long but he was stunned anyway. It happened to him every time Annabeth kissed him, no matter how many experiences he got. It was just plain amazing. Her lips always tasted sweet and her fragrance was always good.

She pulled away and said, "You don`t have to worry about that Percy. No other boy is going to look more handsome and cute than you, at least to me. Let them come. I will pulverize them if they try anything like that. And don`t even care about Athena. She might not have liked us dating at first but then after so many months, she must have gotten used to it. And if she tries to talk me out of dating you, then I will never listen to her. I will never let anything separate you from me Percy. Not after what all we have been through. So be relaxed."

Percy smiled and gave her a quick hug.

"I knew I could always rely on you Annabeth." I wanted to hold her for some more time but she moved away from my arms saying, "I think we should get this furniture work done. Wow, look how excellently decorated these chairs are!"

He thought they both were too much preoccupied thinking that they didn`t notice the chairs. They were plated with Imperial Gold and were in the shape of thrones. The seats were made of soft silky fabric. All the chairs had the Olympus symbol on their headrests. They were very heavy so they tried to push them up rather than lifting them most of the time. The tables were also pretty impressive and were made of mahogany. They were carved with the pictures of the various brave deeds done by the gods (with the help of heroes of course). As they finished lining up all the tables and chairs, Percy wondered what game the gods were playing on them. He suddenly felt the urge to badly win the competition and prove himself in front of everyone.

* * *

Alex P.O.V.

Alex kind of liked all this stuff. He usually liked challenges and was into sports more than anybody else at the camp. He thought he could put up a tough competition against those outside guys who were coming.

Alex had arrived at camp just two weeks ago. His home was far away from Camp Half-Blood so it had taken him many years to reach the place. Being the son of Poseidon, he should have been devoured by monsters the day he ran away from home due to his powerful scent ( Alex had been laughing half the time Percy explained that thing to him). But he was more powerful than most demigods. He kind of was a little good at all things taught at camp. Okay, his water powers were nothing like Percy`s. Not much doubt, though, Percy was excellent at water powers and also he was the hero to all Camp Half-Blood people. Many demigods, like that Jason Grace (Alex had nicknamed Jason Sparky, which he absolutely hated) would like to take over Percy but Alex thought that quite impossible since Percy was much too great.

When he arrived at camp, all the demigods were preparing for a war with the Romans and nobody paid him much attention. Then Percy and his friends had returned successfully back from defeating Gaia and managed to make a peace treaty with the Romans by explaining to them all that had happened. Honestly, that was the only option. Alex had played enough war video games to know that it`s extremely difficult, almost impossible to defeat an army twice more than yours. When all things were sorted, he was introduced to the demigods. Percy, Leo, Frank, Hazel and Annabeth had befriended him almost immediately. Jason and Piper, not so much. It turned out that they weren`t big fans of humor, which Alex considered his strongest talent. Piper didn`t have much against him, but her only problem was that he was targeting her boyfriend for all his pranks.

Sticking around with Percy had helped him raise his popularity. Even if he didn`t handle water very greatly, he still did good at all other things. For instance, he did excellent at sword fighting and had managed to beat Percy once. His aim was also not much bad, and he usually hit Jason perfectly with his javelin whenever he was roaming around their javelin throw area.

Right now, he was helping Leo get Bunker 9 in proper condition, and they had just about finished. Leo was Alex`s most favorite demigod from the younger boys. It must be because he and the guy were pretty much the same. They both agreed that humor was the greatest aspect in a human being`s life. They both liked to impress girls, hoping they would get a girlfriend as they were both alone. Alex understood at least some of Leo`s Hephaestic technology, so he could talk a little freely about his inventions to him.

Alex regretted immediately that they had chosen Bunker 9. He doubted the others had as much cleaning to do as them. Really, as excellent as Leo was, he had no sense how to keep his bunker clean. When they entered, loose pieces of machinery had fallen everywhere. Screws, used batteries, motors and other mechanical rubbish was strewn about. Nothing seemed to be kept in its proper place.

"Really, Leo," he said, "Would the gods even care to see this place? It holds nothing important now. And the most likely god I think to visit this place would be Hephaestus. And when I saw a picture of Hephaestus`s workshop in the myth books, his own workshop was in a horrid state. We should leave it like this."

"We can`t," Leo insisted, "They might want my bunker for the competition, an obstacle course, maybe? They could set up all sorts of traps in here," he added proudly, "It is quiet ingeniously built, you know. And Chiron said we should do our best to clean up the camp as much as possible."

So Alex had regretfully got to work. After an hour of tiring work, the boys managed to make the bunker look acceptable. All the weird things Leo had constructed when he got bored with the Argo II were arranged in an order. All the sharp and dangerous garbage had been thrown at the back. If someone stepped into the bunker he at least wouldn`t think that some psycho maniac who was obsessed with machines and tools had been imprisoned here for many years.

"I could do with some rest, man!" Leo let out a sigh of relief.

'It was your own idea to clean up this place,' Alex wanted to remind him but he restrained himself.

* * *

For the first time at dinner Alex wasn`t much interested in the food. He sat with Percy and Tyson at the Poseidon table and stared at the huge table that had been set up in the middle of the pavilion. Percy had brought up the theory that the table may be for the winner but Alex banished it by saying that nobody in his right mind would eat so much food that occupied a whole table unless he had fallen in love with the toilets at Camp Half-Blood. They all started sniggering at that thought when Chiron stood up and said, "Demigods, I need to talk to you about tomorrow."

All the demigods became silent.

"I think the counselors have already given you detailed information about who all will be arriving at camp. We will not go into much detail about the guest demigods. I just wanted to give you some instructions about the gods. Please do not show disrespect, dishonor, misbehavior when you are around them." He gave Alex a grave look. "We all are gathering for fun, so let it stay fun. And _um,_ you will have to adjust to the gods sleeping habits-''

"The gods are sleeping with us?" Jason asked with horror.

"Well, you know that I myself was informed about the competition today itself, so I had no time to get the Big House ready for so many gods. It simply can`t occupy them. The case is different with you all. You can make space for the gods in your cabins. Just try to stop all the late night stuff you people do. The gods may not like it."

"But will they be comfortable with us?" Alex asked.

"I think that if they can go to all the trouble of visiting our camp they can manage it with you."

Instant discussion filled the room. Everybody started panicking about how they were going to sleep with the gods. Some said that they would rather sleep outside their cabins than sleep inside with their godly parent. Alex didn`t blame them. Even if you called them 'mom' or 'dad', the gods are still gods. They always had to be acted formal with. Alex had never met Poseidon before but he doubted that Poseidon would like it if Alex asked him to sleep with him and tell him bedtime underwater stories. No, sleeping with a god was way _too_ embarrassing.

"Calm down, children," Chiron said. "I know very well that you will manage this little matter amongst yourself and your parents as we have paucity of sleeping space."

"_Little_ matter?" Percy almost gagged on his cheeseburger. "He is speaking like our parents are our best buddies," he whispered to Alex.

"I want to further tell you that the gods should be given the utmost respect by you. If they offer you with any work or task say yes immediately. This will keep them happy and they will perhaps give you some _safer_ tasks." He added with a little worry.

"Don`t worry Chiron," Clarisse from the Ares cabin said confidently. "We are trained to overcome all types of dangerous situations. I don`t care whatever tasks the gods give me."

"Yeah, you will go out anyway," Travis Stoll shouted from the Hermes cabin. The entire pavilion exploded with laughter. Clarisse started to give an angry response when Chiron stopped her with his voice.

"Dear Clarisse, you don`t know what the gods made those demigods do in those days. There was almost as much bloodshed as there is in a war. Demigods killing each other. Demigods who are forced to face so many monsters they can`t defeat alone. Why, one time they even had a task where…" Chiron stopped and looked at all of them who were looking back at him expectantly, wanting to hear more. "Okay, I am giving away too much. You will hear all things from the gods tomorrow. Right now, good night and try not to kill our guests tomorrow. Today there will be no campfire. You will all have to wake up early."

All the demigods started to protest but Chiron wouldn`t listen. Finally, they all cleared up their plates and made their way towards their cabins.

"What`s the time?" Alex asked Percy. He looked at the watch on his wrist.

"9:30."

"I have never slept this early before," Alex complained. "Can`t a guy enjoy some things without extreme torture first?"

"Don`t worry guys," Tyson said cheerfully, "Going to our cabins doesn`t mean we have to actually sleep."

"I don`t think so," Percy said with a yawn. "Chiron probably has installed sleeping sensors in all cabins."

"Hey Percy!" Annabeth came running up to them. "I forgot to wish you good night."

She leaned over and kissed him(Percy was extremely tall, only two or three inches shorter than Alex).

"Good night Percy," she said, "See you tomorrow." She strolled off towards her cabin. Percy kept staring longingly in her direction, as if he wanted another kiss. Really, should all couples act so weirdly when it comes to kissing? Whenever Percy and Annabeth kissed, Percy kept acting strangely for many minutes until he got normal. And believe it or not, they did that every day. Not that Alex really cared. It was Percy`s love life, after all. He should handle it the way he wanted it.

They went up to Cabin Three and were shocked to see that a new bed had been attached next to theirs. It was all royal and luxurious with the fishing trident carved on the front.

"I guess it is Poseidon`s bed," Percy said, "Transported from his palace."

"Let`s not sleep on it then," Alex suggested.

They agreed and collapsed on their own beds. Due to some reason, they instantly fell asleep.

* * *

**AN: - HELLO, READERS. SORRY, TOOK SOME TIME TO COME OUT WITH THE SECOND CHAPTER. VERY LONG. I HOPE YOU LIKED THE NEW OC, ALEX MORGAN. I PRETTY MUCH LIKE HIM. AND PLEASE, REVIEW FOR THIS CHAPTER. I AM **_**NOT**_** GOING TO POST THE NEXT CHAPTER, WHICH IS GOING TO BE EXCELLENT, UNTIL I GET SOME REVIEWS. I DON`T CARE IF THEY ARE GOOD OR BAD. **


	3. Chapter 3: Arrival of the guests

**Disclaimer: All characters and places mentioned in this story from the Percy Jackson series belong to the amazing author Rick Riordan.**

**Chapter 3: Arrival of the guests**

Annabeth P.O.V.

Gods, this was horrible.

Annabeth couldn`t just figure out how the gods would accept something as embarrassing as sleeping with their children in one cabin. After all, they cared so much about their dignity and honor. Especially Athena, who happened to be her mother. Annabeth couldn`t just imagine Athena sleeping with all of them, but she was proved wrong when she and her siblings entered their cabin to find a queen size bed with the Mark of Athena on the front. She was sure that it must be Athena`s bed, teleported straight from her palace.

Her siblings were in as much awe as her. But they decided to think about it the next day. Annabeth sensed some odd smell in her cabin. She instantly realized that Chiron must have done some arrangements for their sleep because she began to feel woozy. She collapsed on her bed and instantly fell asleep.

Annabeth suddenly woke up in the night. She looked at the clock on her nightstand. It was 2 past midnight. She sniffed around and found that the woozy smell was gradually fading. What in the world had awoken her up so late? She listened intently and thought she heard the sound of people speaking with raised voices. Then she suddenly heard a huge blast and almost jumped out of her skin. Other children also jolted out of their beds.

"Where is all this chaos going on?" Malcolm asked.

"Looks like a fight," Annabeth answered.

They all quickly got out of their beds and ran out the door. All around camp kids were getting out of their cabins and hurrying to see where the fighting was going on. There was a sudden light over the top of the camp woods, somewhere to the northern side. All the camp started running towards the light.

"Annabeth!" She turned around to find Percy coming towards her from his cabin with Tyson. Alex was not with them.

"You know what`s happening there?" Percy asked as they jogged together.

"I don`t know," Annabeth replied. "I suddenly woke up from bed and heard all the noises."

"I have a bad feeling that Alex is mixed up in all this," Percy looked worried. "He was not in bed when I woke up. You sometimes don`t know what he will do. I have learned this much from being with him for a week."

They quickened their pace. The sounds got louder as they approached. After running through the woods for about 20 minutes they saw Alex standing in front of them. A big watery shield was formed by his outstretched hands. Stray arrows were coming from a huge clump of trees in front of him but the shield kept him unharmed.

"Who taught him that?" Annabeth asked with awe.

"Well, that is one of the attacks that I mastered during the war with Gaia in Greece. I thought Alex would also be able to do it with a little practice, so I just gave him a few tips. It is not as big as I summoned that day but it seems he has not done that bad," Percy informed proudly.

"That is very amazing Percy."

"Thanks."

All the demigods formed behind Alex`s shield. He looked back at them and his concentration faltered. The shield dissolved into a puddle of water. Everybody started screaming and ducked down as arrows flew over their heads and took shelter in bushes and behind trees. Some of the timid kids like Clovis took off straight back in the camp`s direction. A deep silence spread over the spot.

The first one to break the silence was Jason. "What were you doing here Alex?" He whispered from behind his tree indignantly. "You heard that we needed sleep for tomorrow`s ceremony, and you start fighting at midnight with someone and destroy our sleep!"

"Patience, Sparky," Alex whispered back with irritation. "Do you know that these guys almost fried me to death?"

"Alex, would you clearly tell us what`s happened?" Piper asked with a yawn.

"The effect of the sleeping gas slowly started wearing off," Alex explained, "I was anyway having a fitful sleep with very bad dreams. I was woken up about half an hour ago. I thought that I should roam a little before trying to sleep again."

"That requires guts," Leo muttered.

"I made sure that the harpies were safely on the other side of their patrol before sneaking out of my cabin. I decided to see what the final arrangements of the stage for the gods were. I started moving towards the Big House when I saw someone lurking near the woods. It was a girl. She looked around a little before darting back into the woods. I was totally perplexed and decided to follow her. She led me very deep inside to this spot. She ventured somewhere between those trees." He pointed to the clump in front of them. "I followed her inside and stumbled upon their camp. There were quite a few tents and kids were sleeping inside. Then a guy spotted me and there was quite a chaos. He took an arrow and aimed it at me. I quickly created a water shield. It saved my life but the pain didn`t lessen. It bounced of the shield and a huge explosion blasted me off my feet. I maintained my shield somehow and was fending off their arrows when you came."

"But who crossed our camp borders and set up their own camp in our woods?" Clarisse asked.

"I think I know-''

"Watch out Annabeth!" Tyson shouted loudly.

Annabeth just had time to fall flat on her stomach before the second explosive arrow logged itself into the tree next to her. She braced herself for a good frying treatment when she was suddenly engulfed by a brilliant blue light. She dared to look up and saw the same water shield surrounding her. This time it was not formed by Alex but by Percy. The other demigods peeked from their hideouts and gazed with astonishment. Percy`s shield was much more powerful than Alex`s. A huge blow struck the shield, causing ripples across it, but they remained unscathed. Percy`s face lined up with concentration and his forehead beaded with sweat. Annabeth could tell that it was taking all of his willpower to control the shield. Finally his shield faltered and dissipated. Percy was a little red in the face but he gave her a huge grin.

"I guess you want to say thank you."

"Yeah." Annabeth stood up and gave him a huge hug, then kissed him on his cheek. "Thanks."

The others poked out from behind their hiding places and sighed with relief when they saw that Annabeth was safe. A few trees were still burning from the arrow`s effect. Alex doused them off by spewing jets of water from his palm, probably a new trick he had mastered. Only the smell of burnt wood lingered in the air.

"I think we should wait for Chiron and the other people to come," Will Solace said. Annabeth looked at him and noticed that he had a bow and a quiver of arrows strung to his back.

"It`s good that you brought them with you," she said to him. "We have at least one shootist now."

"We hear you!" a sudden yell came from their opposite side. "If you have some sense of braveness inside you, you should come out of that cozy place you are hiding behind. And I warn you, there is no good in keeping hiding like babies and forming stupid shields to protect yourselves. I doubt you will come out though, I was just _trying_!"

Laughter erupted from the other side. Judging from the different voices, there were about 7-8 people.

"They try to mock us!" Jason growled angrily. "I will show them just what we can do!"

All the others agreed and they charged from their hiding places into the clearing. Annabeth tried to stop them.

"They are trying to lure us into coming forward, don`t listen to them!" she shouted loudly but no one paid her attention. The only person left standing with her was Piper.

"Sometimes your boyfriend acts too rashly and lands all the others in trouble."

"Yeah, boys act too unpredictably at times," she replied.

They both also entered the clearing and froze, just like their friends. Seven children stood in front of them and all of them had weapons pointed at them. Many of them had spears but three of them had arrows pointed right at them. Annabeth looked around at the party of demigods. Two of them looked like twins with identical faces and hoods pulled over their heads. They carried spears but seemed to uncomfortable for them to handle. The girl next to them had curly black hair and piercing eyes. She held her bow in an expert grip and seemed to be choosing which of them to impale first. Another girl with a bow stood next to her but she did not seem interested in them at all. She had applied too much make up on her face and her lipstick made her look like a very beauty-crazed vampire. She gave them a bored look. That left two boys standing in the midst of the group. One of them was tall and muscular with a smirking look on his face as he scrutinized her. The arrows he had in his quiver suspiciously looked like the explosive ones. He had one of it pointed right at Annabeth when she appeared with Piper. That left the boy in the middle… gods, he was extremely handsome. He had a very thick forehead and deep brown eyes with which he was observing them with a slight amusement. He wasn`t as tall as the explosives guy, but he still had a very muscular body. He wore a black T-shirt and crisp, brown jeans which fitted him perfectly and showed off his muscles. When he looked at Annabeth she fought the urge to smile back at him and looked shyly at the ground.

Then a voice inside her said, _'Annabeth, what do you think you are doing? Looking at some stupid guy while your own boyfriend is standing beside you? He doesn`t look even a bit like Percy, and he is your enemy right now. So concentrate!'_

She forced herself to concentrate on the main matter, looking up a bit guiltily at Percy. Really, what in the name of Athena made her think that way about the enemy guy?

The guy in question stepped forward and said, "Really, this is how you lot are trained at camp, hide from the enemy first and then easily come out of your hiding when you are taunted?" More laughter echoed.

"You don`t know whom you are messing with," Percy said dangerously.

"Threatening us?" the explosive guy snorted, "You would better shut up. Not even a satyr would be afraid of you."

All the guys started drawing their weapons in fury but stopped when arrows whistled past them. The two girls who had shot them reloaded their bows with another volley of arrows.

"You would better not do that," the black T-shirt guy warned, "Unless you all want arrows sticking out of your sorry hides."

"Who are you to taunt us, you scumbag!" Jason growled.

"I am someone much more better trained than you toddlers, who stay hidden inside your camp`s safety and enjoying luxuries you don`t deserve!"

"He is starting to _really_ annoy me now," Leo spoke angrily.

"Me too," Alex put in.

"Hey listen here, we could sort this out without killing each other," Annabeth tried to calm them down. She didn`t want a mini-war starting here before Chiron arrived. "Don`t try to do something rash."

"Oh, let them come," the explosive guy said looking at her, "I haven`t got the chance to skewer demigods up till now."

"Ready Will!" Percy shouted suddenly. Annabeth looked at Will. He stepped out from behind Leo and Jason. He had quickly drawn an arrow when the heated conversation was going on. He released it and they were thrown into pitch black darkness.

Leo P.O.V.

Leo threw himself to the ground as their enemies released their second volley of arrows blindly in the confusion. There was another huge noise when an explosive arrow struck to his left with a loud **BANG**! It was just where Annabeth and Piper were standing a few seconds ago. But he didn`t hear any shouts. That meant they must have jumped out of the way. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes. The smoke had cleared a little. He could see a few feet in front of him. The enemy group had also recovered. The archers hurried to fire another volley at them but they didn`t get the chance.

"Attack!" Jason shouted.

All of them brought out their weapons and charged at the other guys. Leo pulled out a hammer and ran forward to his friend`s aid. He decide to attack the hooded twins because they seemed the least comfortable to handle their weapons. But he forgot that there were two of them.

As Leo ran forward to intercept them, they divided their paths and dived different ways. Leo ended up between the two of them. They both stood up and attacked him with their spears. He ducked and they ended up entangling their spears. He quickly substituted his hammer for a screwdriver and jabbed it into one of theirs stomach.

"Ouch!" Hoodie 1 shouted. Hoodie 2 angrily tried to impale him with the spear but he dodged it and poked the screwdriver into his ribs. Hoodie 2 went down. Leo dropped his screwdriver and snatched both of their spears. He brought them down sharply on their heads. They fell down unconscious.

"Changed your opinion about us, fellas?" Leo said mockingly. He glanced around to see how the other battle was going on. He was shocked to see that most of the campers were doing badly in their own fights. Percy was indulged in a sword fight with the leader of the invaders. He had a number o cuts on his arm, but the other guy had none. Even as he watched the other dude knocked the sword out of Percy`s hand with a clever move and pointed it towards his neck.

Alex was fighting viciously with the arrows guy but to no good result. The arrow dude was extremely strong. He was wielding his sword with one hand and holding his bow with the other. He bonked Alex on the head with his bow while distracting him with his sword. Alex went down dazed.

Leo looked expectantly at the girls but it turned out that they were also overwhelmed. The girl with dangerous eyes had Annabeth`s own knife held at her throat. Piper was likewise held at knife point by that girl with too much makeup.

"Holy Hephaestus," Leo muttered. It meant that most of their experienced fighters had been defeated. He searched for Jason and saw him lying knocked out on the forest floor. Just as he was wondering who to help first he heard approaching footsteps from the camp`s direction.

"Halt!" a voice rang out. Leo immediately recognized it as Chiron`s. Everyone stopped in mid-fight with swords and other weapons pointed at each other.

" Lower your weapons," Chiron said calmly. Leo clenched his fist. What kind of guy stayed calm when his camp was being attacked?"

"You have shamed Camp Half-Blood."

Then suddenly all of them started shouting and asking questions, taking Chiron by surprise.

"Listen here," Chiron said, "These people are the group of demigods I told you last night about. The least possible thing expected by me was that you would start fighting with them even before they step into our camp!"

"But why have they popped up in the middle of the night?" Percy asked.

"We can come any time we want!" the arrow guy retorted.

"Yeah, and we haven`t entered your camp," the leader guy said, "We are well out of the boundaries."

"I saw one of you spying on our camp!" Alex shouted, "You have entered our camp!"

"And how did you exactly see them Alex?" Chiron asked, "I think it is illegal to step out of your cabins during curfew time." Alex shut his mouth and looked away.

"Look here, campers. These people will be staying here in the woods during the time of the competition. You are not to give them any kind of trouble like you have today or you will get disqualified. Am I clear?"

They all nodded reluctantly. A couple of healers who had come with Chiron ran forward to tend to the injured fighters. The other group turned on their heel and stalked back toward their camp. Leo thought he saw Annabeth steal a quick glance at the leader guy. When he looked back she blushed slightly.

"What`s going on?" Leo thought. He shook it off and joined Alex as he strolled alone back towards camp.

"Chiron is being partial toward these newbies," Alex said.

"Yeah, I saw that too. But it is a good thing that they are at least not going to sleep inside camp."

"But they will be just outside it."

"Better than inside, I think." Alex did not respond. Leo sensed that this guy did not want to talk and went back slowly to his cabin. He lay for a long time thinking about the strangers and at last fell asleep, dreaming that Chiron declared himself one of them and they all transformed into ugly centaur mutants.

Author`s note:


End file.
